More in Beef Quality

The 2011 National Beef Quality Audit identified food safety as one of the industry’s greatest challenges. It’s also one of the industry’s greatest success stories. It’s the same with product consistency. But foodservice giant Sysco says the industry must work together more closely to make even more improvement....More

With the price of imported beef from South America into the European Union easing, the price difference between U.S. beef and that of other origins has widened considerably in recent weeks. The short-term outlook for U.S. beef remains positive, but the concern is for October 2012 and beyond, especially if the euro fails to appreciate against the U.S. dollar....More

The 2011 National Beef Quality Audit, released this week at the Cattle Industry Summer Meeting in Denver, shows cattlemen have made tremendous strides in improving the quality of the end product. But a changing consumer landscape and a changing industry mean that challenges will continue to arise in cattlemen’s efforts to keep beef at the center of the plate....More

Every five years, a National Beef Quality Audit is performed, in which ranchers, feedlot operators, packers, retailers and government and allied industry are surveyed. The purpose of the checkoff-sponsored audit is to document accomplishments, future challenges and to identify areas that need improvement. The full results of the latest audit will be released on July 26 at the summer National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) meetings in Denver....More

Farmers and ranchers have an online resource for safety and health-related information.
The site, www.extension.org/farm_safety_and_health, is through eXtension, a national consortium of 74 land-grant universities that provides online access to research-based information and education....More

The Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program has given cattlemen the framework and protocols to make significant improvement in the consumer acceptability of their product. However, according to one packer, the industry not only needs to stay vigilant on the progress it has made, but needs to look forward on how BQA can continue to help cattlemen produce a consumer-acceptable product in a changing consumer marketplace....More

The BQA program teaches participants about implementing best management practices to help enhance herd profitability and improve consumer confidence in high quality beef products. With increased public attention on animal welfare, BQA enables youth and producers to demonstrate their commitment to food safety and quality....More

Though most other states have rejected lean finely textured beef (LFTB), Nebraska and Iowa will continue to serve it in school lunches during the next school year because it's safe, lean and less expensive, state officials say....More

Cattle producers are under the microscope, and have been for a while now. Consumers, environmental activists, politicians, bureaucrats – seems like just about everybody has an opinion on how you should do your job. Adopting not just the practices, but the philosophy of Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) can help ensure the beef industry has a positive story to tell when those people start asking questions....More

For those who thought it was impossible for packers, retailers and foodservice operators to agree on much of anything, the soon-to-be-released Beef Quality Audit may come as a surprise. Indeed, as cattle producers have largely solved many of the problems that spurred the launch of the audit back in 1991, other, more current concerns have surfaced. Here’s a sneak peek....More

Lean finely textured beef (LFTB), a product resulting from a process approved by the Food and Drug Administration 20 years ago, and used in hundreds of foods, as well as ground beef, was at the center of a controversy initiated by consumer media and stoked by social media. The sensational attention, in the face of science totally to the contrary, led to a precipitous decline in its use. The result was that BPI, maker of LFTB, announced this week the permanent closure of three of its four manufacturing plants....More

Tyson Foods, operator of the largest packing plant serving Iowa cattle producers, reported a $10-million increase in net income to $166 million for the second quarter, but said its beef business ran a $1-million operating loss.
The beef loss, caused by high cattle prices and flat demand, made worse by the controversy in March over lean finely textured beef (LFTB) in social media, was offset by operating profits of $115 million for pork and $145 million for chicken....More

Mizzou Collegiate CattleWomen is pleased to announce the third annual Meet Your Meat, a program focused on promoting the beef industry to University of Missouri (MU) students. Meet Your Meat will provide beef industry educational resources to the Columbia community on May 2. Many people want to know where their food comes from, so this is an excellent opportunity to talk to beef producers firsthand....More

On April 24, USDA confirmed a positive test result of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in a dairy cow in California. USDA has confirmed this animal did not enter the human food or animal feed supply. USDA is conducting an investigation to confirm the origin and age of this animal. In a media conference held on Tuesday evening, Guy Loneragan, epidemiologist and professor of food safety and public health and at Texas Tech University, provided an update on the case....More

Troy Marshall, BEEF Cow-Calf Weekly editor and a registered Angus breeder from Burlington, Colo., talks about ways to add value to your cattle. This video news is provided by Certified Angus Beef LLC and the American Angus Association. Visit www.CABpartners.com or www.angus.org for more information....More

When it comes to food, the alternatives are endless: spicy or bland; Mexican, Italian, Asian or Southern-style comfort dishes. But when it comes to beef, almost everyone agrees on a few features....More

April 12, 2011, was the day that celebrity chef Jamie Oliver launched the “pink slime” term into the blogosphere with a crude, but compelling, depiction on TV of how BPI manufactures its lean finely textured beef (LFTB). That’s also the day the industry and BPI should have gone on the offensive against this and other gross misrepresentations of a legitimate, nutritious, safe and economical source of protein for Americans....More

The beef checkoff strives to help simplify beef for the consumer—from the supermarket to the table. In order to do that, the checkoff created a “Confident Cooking With Beef” brochure -- a one-stop, go-to resource for consumers, food writers, health professionals and meat case managers. The brochure illustrates how easy it is to prepare and cook beef, helping Americans learn how to build a healthy diet with beef....More

Because of the recent social media hysteria centered on lean finely textured beef (LFTB) and its subsequent removal almost entirely from the marketplace, beef prices will soar and feeding the world population economically will be much more difficult....More

Out of nowhere, a decades-old practice of putting lean finely textured beef (LFTB) to good use has exploded as a hot news story, showing just how sensationalism collides with nutrition science — and what is or is not, actually, news in the first place....More

With Beef Month just around the corner, it’s time to gear consumers fired up for summer grilling season, which kicks off in May! But, with concerns about beef safety and quality, in regard to the recent media frenzy pertaining to lean finely textured beef (LFTB), we certainly have our work cut out for us in order to regain consumer confidence in our product....More

Tracy Thomas, vice president of marketing for U.S. Premium Beef, talks about the importance of carcass data in making beef improvements. This video news is provided by Certified Angus Beef LLC and the American Angus Association....More

There are days when working in the field of agriculture can be downright depressing. On those days, it seems like the whole world is against you. There have been more of those days than is normal in the past few weeks. The manufactured media hysteria over lean finely textured beef has spawned a feeding frenzy among journalists, bloggers and activist groups....More